Lyft donates $1M to the ACLU, condemns Trump’s immigration actions

2 years

Ride hailing provider Lyft has taken a strong stance against Trump’s new immigration actions and ban on Muslim refugees (which Rudy Giuliani admitted is exactly what it was intended to be on Fox News on Sunday morning). In an email sent to users, Lyft noted that it is “firmly against these actions, and will not be silent to issues that threat the value of the community.”

This is one of the strongest statements against Trump’s unconstitutional executive orders from a tech company to date, and Lyft is also putting action behind its words: The ride hailing company also announced it will be donating $1 million to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) over the next four years. The ACLU filed suit against Trump’s administration for the refugee ban, and succeeded in getting a temporary stay of the order from a federal judge on Saturday.

Many other Silicon Valley companies have expressed varying levels of opposition to the actions by Trump and his White House, including Google, Microsoft and Apple, but Lyft has done so with a public document (the messages from many others were shared via leaked internal employee emails) and with a clear articulation of why Trump’s actions are wrong on a moral level, not just as a potential hindrance to acquiring top level global talent, or as a threat to current employees who enjoy U.S. visa status.

Uber’s Travis Kalanick released an email to employees noting that the Lyft competitor would be working with drivers potentially affected to provide them legal assistance. He also said he’d raise the issue of the ban’s impact on “innocent people” during a meeting with Trump’s business advisory council on Friday, of which Kalanick is a member. Kalanick also acknowledged that many employees might disagree with his decision to join Trump’s administration in an advisory capacity, and said they enjoy the right to do so. Uber employees have taken to Twitter to do just that, and the company faces calls to boycott its service, and saw physical protests at its San Francisco HQ as a result of Kalanick’s involvement with Trump’s White House.

Here’s the entire letter sent by Lyft:

We created Lyft to be a model for the type of community we want our world to be: diverse, inclusive and safe.

This weekend, Trump closed the country’s borders to refugees, immigrants, and even documented residents from around the world based on their country of origin. Banning people of a particular faith or creed, race or identity, sexuality or ethnicity, from entering the U.S. is antithetical to both Lyft’s and our nation’s core values. We stand firmly against these actions, and will not be silent on issues that threaten the values of our community.

We know this directly impacts many of our community members, their families and friends. We stand with you, and are donating $1,000,000 over the next four years to the ACLU to defend our constitution. We ask that you continue to be there for each other – and together, continue proving the power of community.